Swimming Lessons

Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology

David Ehrenfeld

David Ehrenfeld is among the most eloquent writers on ecology and conservation biology. He was the founding editor of the Journal of ...

Swimming Lessons

Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology

David Ehrenfeld

Description

David Ehrenfeld is among the most eloquent writers on ecology and conservation biology. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Conservation Biology, and author of The Arrogance of Humanism and Beginning Again. This new book presents an elegant neo-luddite perspective on the costs to human dignity and potential, of the shrinking of wilderness and the ongoing degradation of the environment. Ehrenfeld ruminates on the specific impacts of shortsighted governmental and economic policies, and of new technologies on human values and communities, tracing the human impacts upon the urban, agricultural and wilderness environments. Ehrenfeld has a unique, unmistakable voice as a major spokesperson for the conservation ethic and the human values implicit in environmentalism and conservation biology. This book should appeal strongly to readers of Ehrenfeld's earlier books and essays, and reach and satisfy a broad constituency on the green end of the political spectrum.

Swimming Lessons

Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology

David Ehrenfeld

Table of Contents

Section 1: The Lies We Live Brainstorming Pretending The Magic of the Internet Nothing Simple Sherlock, Nero, and UsSection 2: Wrecking Our Society—A Manual Rejecting Gifts Adaptation Forecast: Chilly, Overcast, Light Drizzle, No People Left Pseudocommunities Obsolescence Social Evolution Versus Sudden Change WritingSection 3: Deadly Economics Affluence and Austerity Durable Goods Spending Our Capital Saving by Selling Hot Spots and the Globalization of Conservation The Gingko and the Stump The Death PenaltySection 4: Relating to Nature in a Manmade World The Vine Cleaners A Connoisseur of Nature Death of a Plastic Palm Scientific Discoveries and Nature's Mysteries I Reinvent Agriculture Thinking about Breeds and Species Teaching Field Ecology More Field Ecology: Rightofway Island A Walk in the Woods Degrees of IntimacySection 5. Restoring the Community The Utopia Fallacy Traditions Jane Austen and the World of the Community Universities and Their Communities An Invalid's Guide Swimming LessonsBibliography and Suggested Readings